Motivating the potential sale of Dick Clark Productions is the desire of Six Flags Inc. to cash out of its 40% stake in the television company. Six Flags no longer views Dick Clark Productions (DCP) as core to the rest of its theme park business, a person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publically said. Six Flags acquired the stake when it was still being run by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, whose Red Zone Capital is the majority owner of DCP. Red Zone could attempt to buy the stake, but that scenario is highly unlikely, an insider said, noting that Six Flags wants to shop the property and create a bidding war. Red Zone retained the WME-backed boutique investment bank Raine to explore options.

A first-of-its-kind vertical roller coaster debuting June 30 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom will take riders through a pair of twists, a towering heart-line roll and a non-inverting loop. Dubbed Superman Ultimate Flight, the custom Premier Rides launched coaster at the Northern California park combines a unique blend of elements from other coasters, including Cedar Point's Wicked Twister, Universal Orlando's Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and Green Lantern: First Flight at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

In the battle to lure summer tourists, the major Southern California theme parks are each offering something new, including a road trip with animated cars, a front-row seat for an epic battle of alien robots and a world-record plunge from a 400-foot tower. New attractions are key to bolstering attendance, analysts say, and can each cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Although local theme parks declined to disclose construction costs for this year's attractions, industry experts said the investment they made could be the most in about a decade.

Imagine inner tubing down a water slide only to realize you've been riding along the back of a hissing 250-foot-long snake and are about to plunge into the gaping mouth of the fang-bearing and venom-spewing King Cobra. The new racing slide debuting in early July at Six Flags Great Adventure's Hurricane Harbor in New Jersey sounds more like a terrifying psychotic nightmare than a fun-filled day at the water park. PHOTOS: King Cobra water slide at Six Flags Great Adventure With King Cobra installations already in place in Turkey and Russia, the new Hurricane Harbor water park attraction marks the United States debut of the snake-themed water slide.

Six Flags Magic Mountain will reclaim sole ownership of the Roller Coaster Capital of the World title with the announcement that arch-rival Cedar Point will remove one of its 17 coasters before the start of the summer season. PHOTOS: Cedar Point vs. Magic Mountain Citing declining ridership and increased maintenance costs, Ohio's Cedar Point said it will remove and demolish the 1979 Wildcat coaster to make room for the upcoming $6-million Luminosity nighttime spectacular, which is set to debut on June 8. PHOTOS: Luminosity nighttime spectacular at Cedar Point "Cedar Point remains committed to being the roller coaster capital of the world," the park said in a statement.

Environmental groups are accusing Six Flags Magic Mountain of polluting the Santa Clara River with huge volumes of contaminated water and allowing trash with its logos to spill into the Southern California waterway and toward the ocean. The allegations were made in a letter sent to the Valencia theme park last week by a coalition of environmental groups, whose investigators say they found alarming levels of pollutants in water sloshing out of the facility's storm water outfalls into the nearby waterway during rainstorms.

Imagine chowing down on pizza and washing it down with a Slurpee, followed by a deep-fried Snickers and some funnel cake covered in crispy bacon and maple cream. Now imagine finishing up the day by jumping on more than a dozen high-speed roller coasters. For teenagers, this may sound like the makings of a great day. For most adults, it's a recipe for extreme nausea. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia is launching into this year's peak spring and summer seasons with several new menu items for guests, including Slurpees, the blended ice drinks that -- until now -- were sold exclusively at 7-Eleven convenient stores.

The X-Flight coaster coming in May to Six Flags Great America will take riders seated in a winged formation through a near-miss keyhole fly-through that serves as the new ride's signature element. PHOTOS: X-Flight wing coaster at Six Flags Great America Themed to look like a stealth fighter jet, the new wing coaster at the Chicago-area amusement park will feature trains with seats that straddle the track, giving riders the sensation of having nothing above or below them.

The latest expansion of Disney's California Adventure, the new Cars Land attraction, is set to open June 15, Disney officials said Friday, as the park offered a peek at one of the biggest attractions featured in the $1-billion expansion. The 12-acre Cars Land, featuring the characters from the Disney-Pixar film "Cars," will open with several new restaurants and three rides, including Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Flying Tires and Radiator Springs Racers. The most elaborate and anticipated attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, in which small, convertible cars carry passengers around realistic-looking buttes and canyons.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is expected to add a terrain hugging launched roller coaster in 2013 featuring the world's tallest loop, according to an employee who wasn't authorized to speak on behalf of the amusement park. A Magic Mountain mechanic inadvertently revealed closely guarded facts about the record-setting 2013 attraction while casually talking with a group of coaster enthusiasts during the recent West Coast Bash event at the Valencia amusement park. Details of the conversation quickly appeared on the Theme Park Review website and rapidly spread through the online coaster community.